A Woking man whose young daughter underwent open heart surgery is aiming to climb to the summit of the world’s highest mountain to raise money for Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity.

Nigel Briant, 43, from Horsell, will follow in the footsteps of intrepid explorers such as Sir Edmund Hillary and his sherpa Tenzing Norgay when he joins a five-person expedition team on April 5 to brave Mount Everest.

Mr Briant has set aside two months to climb the 8,848 metres and aims to raise £35,000 for the charity.

He said: “At 18 months old my own daughter underwent open heart surgery at our local hospital.

“While this was, without doubt, the most intense and agonising experience of my life, the care she received was amazing and so I have decided to do something to pay my respects to the truly courageous paediatric doctors, nurses and support teams who care for sick children every day.”

The experienced climber, who has taken on McKinley and Kilimanjaro climbs before, will take a two-month sabbatical from his post as IT associate director at the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) to complete the challenge.

“At 5,895 and 6,168 metres respectively, Kilimanjaro and McKinley are mere molehills compared to the 8,848 vertical metre challenge I am facing in attempting to summit Mount Everest, but every step will be helping make a difference for the thousands of children treated at Great Ormond Street Hospital every year, and their families,” Mr Briant added.

The climber is taking on the challenge as part of his employer’s ongoing support for the charity.

Sarah Norris, account manager for corporate partnerships at Great Ormond Street, said: “We’re so very grateful to Nigel and RBC for their continued support and we wish Nigel every success in completing this incredible challenge.”

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She has been editorial director of the online and print titles in Surrey and north-east Hampshire since 2007. Marnie previously worked at the BBC as a producer for 5 Live, having moved to national radio from BBC Sussex and Surrey.